The FC novelization is pretty close to the movie, they did try to explain some of Cochrane and Lily Sloan's Backstorys that didn't make it into the film, but most of the details are the same. It's not quite as different as the Generations novel, which was written with the movie's original ending, as well as other scenes that were cut.
I don't remember any details about the battle in FC, but that might have been further detailed in another book. And the running battle certainly explains why it started way out in the typhoon sector.